Sawt Falasteen - Ukrainians in Germany rally to support team at Euros

More than 1,000 Ukrainians came out to cheer on the "Zbirna" at a public training session in the western city of Wiesbaden on Thursday, the day before the official opening of the tournament.

The crowd of mostly young people and mothers with children wore garlands of flowers and waved Ukrainian flags at the stadium in Wiesbaden, where the national team has its base camp.

"When the soldiers learn of their victory, it will make them stronger," said student Nikita Mishchenko, 18, who arrived in Germany two years ago with his mother.

His father, a police officer, stayed behind to repair tanks as part of the war effort.

Nikita is one of more than a million Ukrainians who have found refuge in Germany, the host country of the Euro 2024 tournament that kicks off on Friday.

- Morale boost -

For Mykyta Manuilov, 22, from the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, football has been a crucial way to make friends after he was displaced because of the war.

"I left the Donbas with my family, moved to Kharkiv and then came here on my own to study photography," he said, a camera slung around his neck.

"The Euros are important for my friends in the trenches -- they are important for morale," he said.

As proof that it is about more than football, the large mounted photos of the Ukrainian players at the entrance to the stadium all feature soldiers in the background.

"We strive to be as unfailing as you are," reads one of the captions.

For Ukrainian refugees, coming to support the national team is also a chance to meet others in the same situation, said Viktoriia Marchenko, 37, at the stadium with her football-mad son.

"For the last two years, everything I've done has been for my child," said the former accountant.

Arhkyp, 11, said he was "nervous" but determined to get an autograph from Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk.

Wrapped in a blue and yellow flag, the youngster said he was the only Ukrainian in his class and was "happy to hear Ukrainian spoken, it's a bit like being back there".

His father also stayed in Ukraine, at the front.

- 'A way of forgetting' -

High school pupil Danylo Kylynych skipped class to attend the training session on Thursday -- but was sure his teacher would forgive him.

"We have war in our country, but here, the players bring us a lot of emotions, it's a way of forgetting this horror," he said.

Mark, eight, was one of a class of schoolchildren from Wiesbaden yelling at the players to kick a ball in their direction.

"I asked the teacher to excuse me from school because I wanted to come with my father -- we have Ukrainian roots -- so she offered to take the whole class," he said proudly.

Ukraine won two playoffs in March to reach their fourth European championships and are quietly confident ahead of their first match against Romania on Monday.

"It's probably one of the best teams we've had, a combination of old and new players," Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko said on Thursday.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST